Study: Primetime TV Still Mostly A Boys Club — And It’s Getting Tougher For Women

Women in primetime television are losing ground in many areas in front of and behind the cameras, according to a new study. In 2013-14, women comprised 27% of all people working as creators, directors, writers, producers, executive producers, editors, and directors of photography – a decrease of 3.5% from the previous season. The 17th annual “Boxed In” study (read it here) was conducted by San Diego State’s Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film.

On screen, the percentage of female characters with speaking roles declined 2.3%, down from 43% of all speaking roles last season to 42% this season – even lower than the percentage of women with speaking roles in the 2007-08 season. Again proving that male actors continue to dominate the television landscape, the report found that 44% of programs studied employed four or fewer women, compared with only 1% of programs that employed four or fewer men.

“For many years, women have experienced slow but incremental growth both as characters on screen and working in key positions behind the scenes,” said Dr. Martha Lauzen, Executive Director of the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film. “However, that progress, small though it was, now appears to have stalled. However, when women are employed behind the scenes, they make a difference.”

Indeed, women producers made the greatest strides. During the 2013-14 season, they filled 43% of all producer jobs, up 13% over last season. Female creators and executive producers, however, lost ground. Females accounted for 20% of all creators this season, down nearly 17% from last season, while the number of female executive producers, who account for 23% of those jobs, declined by 15%. Women writers took the biggest hit. This season, they made up 25% of the writing workforce, which is down 26% from last season, when they accounted for over a third of all primetime TV writers.

The number of female directors of photography also decreased dramatically – down 50% this season over last, though from a much smaller statistical pool. The study found that last season, 2% of all DPs were women; this season it was down to 1%.

Women directors and editors made significant gains. This year, females accounted for 13% of all directors, a 7.7% increase. Females accounted for 17% of all editing jobs this season, a gain of 5.9%.

17 Comments

Luke • on Sep 16, 2014 12:39 am

Anybody do a study on the percent of women who are sanitation workers? Or maybe one on railroad engineers? I can name tons of jobs where men dominate. Guess what, I can name tons where women dominate too. The only relevant stat is what percentage of “applicants” are women and at what rate are they getting jobs. Cuz like trash men and railroad engineers the pool of hopefuls ain’t 50/50. Not saying we can’t do better in Hollywood – just saying raw numbers don’t tell the full story. Bottom line is there are way more men going for these jobs than women so expecting the hiring rate to be 50/50 is a false position to argue from. Somebody do a study to figure out how the wannabes break down. That’s what I want to know. Only then will we know how well we are or are not doing.

Grace • on Sep 16, 2014 4:47 pm

Look at the ratio of assistants on shows. It’s about 50-50 along the gender lines, right? Maybe even a few more women than men. Then look at the ratio of male to female writers. There are no career assistants on shows, so presumably that girl who answers the showrunner’s phone wants to be a writer just as badly as the guy who gets your coffee. But the chances of the guy getting bumped up–especially if he’s a straight white dude–are a hell of a lot better than the girl getting bumped up. And that’s the problem. Being a TV writer doesn’t equate to manual labor jobs that women maybe aren’t as physically ideal for as men (or can do as safely). There are plenty of women who want these jobs, but they’re being hired to fill token slots, rather than just being judged on their merits. Or not being hired at all. Not the case on every show… but on a lot of them.

A writer • on Sep 16, 2014 2:06 am

Why was this posted at midnight?

Stewed • on Sep 16, 2014 3:07 am

Quite right to not even mention composers. As the figure for women is less than 2% it’s barely even worth bothering with. Let’s just call is zero and be done.

Anonymous • on Sep 16, 2014 5:55 am

Did it ever occur to anyone that there is a smaller percentage of women working in the industry compared to men? Certain job markets are tilted to toward men or women. I would never discriminate while hiring, but there are simply more men applying to the jobs. If 9 men apply and 1 women, my decision is based on talent and fit for the project, not gender.

Where is the industry group men in nursing?

a person • on Sep 16, 2014 9:44 am

I am a woman, and in my experience this isn’t true. Every single man I have worked with at my level has moved up and had opportunities that I, and most of the other women at my level, have not. I believe that the problem stems from networks fearing that content that is too female might scare away their most coveted demographic — young men. That’s why many of the women that are on TV are sexed up. I think young men are being underestimated. Personally, I think there’s room for another network to fill this void.

Jennifer Davis • on Sep 16, 2014 5:56 am

I don’t think we needed a study to show the decrease, we need a study to show the why and how to fix it……

Jak • on Sep 16, 2014 6:15 am

I’ve been seen many people fired because they asked a woman to do their job and were fired for upsetting her. The woman I respect just do their job and ask no special favors. The problem is the people that were fired doing all the work The producer ended up getting both a cancelled show and a divorce..

Lisa • on Sep 16, 2014 1:26 pm

What does a producer getting a divorced have to do this topic? Spread your biased personal animosity in the appropriate arena… Like therapy.

SheLovesMedia • on Sep 16, 2014 6:40 am

Men creating content/products that are consumed by mostly women? Hm, like the book industry and the fashion industry and the furniture industry and the….

Sam Cro • on Sep 16, 2014 8:21 am

Besides, do you think having quotas and EEOC makes a woman equal? Should not the standard be they can do the job better than a man?

Kay • on Sep 16, 2014 9:39 am

No, the standard should be they can do the job *as well as* a man and not have to put up with Boy’s Club bullshit.

I used to believe all the excuses that men are making here for why there aren’t more women in “traditionally” male professions. Then a guy I thought was a friend got drunk one night after work and told me everything he *really* thought about women “invaders.” Holy crap.

Thank you, Mr. Robb and Deadline, for putting Ms. Lauzen’s work and this socially relevant issue front and center in our press. I would like to clarify the details regarding the stats for women directors in television. Women directors did not make significant gains. While it is true that more episodes of television may have been directed by a woman, the fact is that the same women are directing them. It is crucial to open up the hiring pool if women are ever to make strides and this will only happen when hiring practices move beyond the current variables of hot credits and cool agents. There are over 1200 skilled female directors in the DGA, and yet only abut 15 – 20 individuals work regularly in TV. Networks, studios and producers must meet with these women and look at their reels – only then will those pearly gates fly open.

Staff Low Levels • on Sep 16, 2014 4:18 pm

This is a problem linked to the lack of upward mobility among television writers. Here’s the number to focus on:

Women comprised 43% of producers.
This represents an increase of 5
percentage points from 2012-13, and
represents an increase of 14 percentage
points since 1997-98.

If there were more younger writers, there would be more women and people of color. The more older writers keep their jobs, the more white men will remain a large percentage of the business. One consulting producer equals at least three staff writers – imagine the diversity the business could achieve with some new blood.

Boo Hoo • on Sep 17, 2014 2:37 am

Written as a hit-making female writer/ exec producer has taken over a whole night of ABC prime-time real estate this fall, which employs–you guessed it–female actresses, writers and producers. Quit whining and get to work, ladies.

Who Asked You Anyway • on Sep 17, 2014 8:50 am

My former boss categorized women as BJL or not BJL.

BJL = Blow Job Lips.

I wish I were kidding.

Some things never change.

The only politically correct group left to target is old people. So even women and fat people have a better change of getting hired.